Commissure Attachments for Prosthetic Heart Valves
64 patents in this list
Updated:
Modern prosthetic heart valves must maintain precise leaflet alignment and durability under dynamic loading conditions, where each cardiac cycle subjects commissure attachments to forces exceeding 40N. These attachment points serve as critical interfaces between the flexible leaflet material and the rigid support structure, experiencing over 40 million cycles annually.
The fundamental challenge lies in creating commissure attachments that maintain leaflet mobility and durability while allowing for collapsibility in transcatheter applications.
This page brings together solutions from recent research—including heat-shrink sleeve protection systems, adjustable commissure supports for variable diameters, and self-aligning restraining posts with load-distributing eyelets. These and other approaches focus on improving valve longevity while enabling minimally invasive deployment options.
1. Transcatheter Heart Valve with Flexible Intermediate Materials for Leaflet Stress Reduction
St. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc., 2024
Reducing stress on leaflets of transcatheter heart valves to improve durability and longevity by allowing deflection at attachment points. The technique involves using patches, billowing patches, or flexible intermediate materials between the leaflets, cuffs, and stents to enable localized movement of the leaflets during valve operation. This reduces stress concentrations in high-stress regions like commissures, preventing leaflet damage and failure over time.
2. Heart Valve Prosthesis with Capsule Mechanism for Commissure Sealing
SHANGHAI ZHENYI MEDICAL TECH CO LTD, SHANGHAI ZHENYI MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY CO LTD, 2024
Heart valve prosthesis to reduce thrombus formation by using a capsule connected to the stent that expands and collapses around the commissure points between the artificial valve leaflets. The capsule has a gap facing the outflow end. When the valve opens, the capsule is collapsed, allowing full blood flow. When the valve closes, the capsule expands around the leaflet commissures to seal, preventing blood flow stagnation and thrombus formation.
3. Artificial Heart Valve with Leaflets Secured via Walled Groove Stent Fixation Mechanism
JIANGSU TRULIVE MEDTECH CO LTD, 2023
Artificial heart valve design with improved durability and reduced calcification compared to traditional valves. The valve has a unique fixation mechanism for the leaflets to attach to the stent. The stent has a walled groove that the leaflets pass through and connect to. This allows evenly fixing the leaflets to the stent without wrinkles. This reduces stress concentration and calcification compared to sewing the leaflets to the stent. The smooth leaflet attachment prevents tears and calcification from blood flow impact.
4. Prosthetic Heart Valve with Medially Extending Commissure Attachment for Strain Reduction
St. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc., 2023
Manufacturing prosthetic heart valve that reduces the strain placed on the valve assembly without affecting the prosthetic heart valve's ability to collapse. The valve includes a commissure attachment feature that extends in the medial direction of a stent for coupling a valve assembly to the stent.
5. Prosthetic Heart Valve Holder with Flexible Retractable Legs for Commissure Post Shielding
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, 2023
A prosthetic heart valve holder and packaging that facilitates implantation of the valve by pre-constricting and/or pre-shielding the valve commissure posts to prevent suture looping. The holder has flexible legs that can extend through the valve and cover the commissure post tips. This allows the holder to shield the posts during implantation without sutures. The legs can retract inward to remove the holder after the implant.
6. Catheter-Deliverable Prosthetic Valve with Heat-Shrink Sleeves on Commissural Supports
EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES CORPORATION, 2023
Prosthetic valves that can be delivered through a catheter and implanted over native valves to replace them. The prosthetic valve has a heat-shrink sleeve over the commissural support members to reduce wear on the leaflets and improve durability. The heat-shrink sleeves are shrunk tightly over the support members before attaching the leaflets. This prevents contact between the leaflets and frame during opening, reducing wear. The heat-shrink sleeves can be made from a polymer like polyvinyl chloride.
7. Prosthetic Tricuspid Valve with Asymmetrical Support Structures for Native Leaflet Engagement
INQB8 MEDICAL TECH LLC, INQB8 MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC, 2023
A prosthetic tricuspid valve that can be implanted in a native tricuspid valve without direct attachment to the annulus or chordae tendineae. The valve has asymmetrical support structures that grasp the native leaflets and allow the prosthetic valve to move with the native valve during the cardiac cycle. This biodynamic design preserves native annulus motion and prevents issues like heart block. The valve has leaflets, covers, and arms that attach to the native leaflets and surround the native annulus.
8. Prosthetic Heart Valve Implant with Metal Frame and Commissure-Coupled Skirts
EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES CORPORATION, 2023
Implanting a prosthetic heart valve in a patient's body using an open configuration. The implant includes a metal frame, two or more polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or natural tissue (e.g., pericardial tissue) skirts, and an implantable prosthetic heart valve coupled to the frame via commissure tab assemblies.
9. Valve Prosthesis with Woven Ligament Tissue Featuring Tangential Warp and Axial Weft Thread Orientation
RHEINISCH WESTFAELISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE RWTH AACHEN KOERPERSCHAFT DES OEFFENTLICHEN RECHTS, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen Public Corporation, 2023
Valve prosthesis for implantation in the human body, such as heart valves, made from woven ligament tissue that provides mechanical stability and biocompatibility. The valve leaflets are formed from ligament tissues with warp threads tangential to the valve base and weft threads axial. The weft threads at one edge reverse orientation to create a free leaflet edge. The tissue structure allows colonization by cells for tissue engineering applications. The valve stent has commissure struts and the ligament tissues are wrapped around it, sewn, or glued to fix. The tissue can be stabilized further with additional fabrics or sutures.
10. Prosthetic Heart Valve with Leaflet-Extending Body and Catheter-Based Rail Delivery System
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, 2023
Prosthetic heart valves and delivery methods to seal native heart valves and reduce regurgitation. The prosthetic valves have bodies that extend the length and width of the native leaflets, filling gaps and promoting coaptation. They can be secured with sutures or anchors. Delivery involves threading a catheter through the heart, extending a rail through the leaflet, and pulling it back to form a loop. The prosthetic valve is then advanced through the rail to the leaflet. This allows implanting the valve without enlarging the annulus. The rail can also be snared and retracted through the catheter.
11. Prosthetic Heart Valve with Rotatable Commissure Support Arms for Diameter Adjustment
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, 2023
Prosthetic heart valve with adjustable commissure supports that allow the valve to be expanded to a wide range of diameters while maintaining proper leaflet coaptation. The commissure supports have adjustable arms that can be rotated or twisted to adjust the tension on the attached leaflets. This allows customizing the valve diameter for each patient by adjusting the commissure support arms to match the expansion diameter of the valve frame. A delivery assembly allows in-situ adjustment of the commissure supports after valve implantation.
12. Prosthetic Heart Valve Leaflet Assembly with Asymmetrical Leaflets and Interlocking Commissure Tabs
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, 2023
Prosthetic heart valve leaflet assembly with asymmetrical leaflets and commissure assembly configurations to improve durability and reduce wear compared to conventional symmetrical leaflet designs. The leaflets have tabs with vertical extensions that fold over adjacent leaflet tabs to form commissures.
13. Biomechanically Anchored Artificial Tricuspid Valve with Axial Movement and Asymmetric Support Structures
INQB8 MEDICAL TECH LLC, INQB8 MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC, 2023
A biomechanically anchored artificial tricuspid valve that improves function and reduces complications compared to conventional replacement valves. The valve is designed to biomechanically secure to the native tricuspid valve leaflets instead of attaching to the annulus. This allows the prosthetic valve to move axially within the native valve during the cardiac cycle. The anchoring reduces motion differences compared to the native valve, avoiding conduction blockages. The valve also has asymmetric support structures, pleated atrium covers, and leaflets that contact each other to prevent leakage. The biomechanical anchoring reduces blood flow obstruction and thrombus formation compared to rigidly fixing the prosthetic valve to the annulus.
14. Heart Valve Prosthesis with Asymmetric Leaflets and Detachable Skirt-Connected Anchor System
BIOTRONIK AG, 2023
Heart valve prosthesis with a unique leaflet arrangement and connectivity between the valve and anchor components that allows separate replacement of the valve without removing the anchor. The valve has asymmetric leaflets that close the valve orifice in different angles. The leaflets are fixed to a conical support structure. The anchor has a skirt that folds around it and connects to the valve via seams. The valve and anchor are separated by the skirt folds, allowing valve replacement without anchor removal.
15. Collapsible Prosthetic Heart Valve with Repositionable Circumferentially Adjustable Stent
St. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc., 2022
Collapsible prosthetic heart valve that can be repositioned during a deployment procedure to reduce its circumferential size. The valve includes a collapsible and expandable stent having a proximal end, a distal end, an annulus section adjacent the proximal end and an aortic section adjacent the distal end.
16. Valve Holder Assembly with Rotating Mechanism and Recessed Suture Guides for Commissure Post Bending
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, 2022
Valve holder assembly for minimally invasive heart valve replacement surgeries that reduces suture looping and improves deployment consistency while also minimizing force required to remove the holder after implantation. The holder has a rotating mechanism to bend the commissure posts before implantation, with hard stops to prevent over-bending. The suture routing around the commissure posts is improved to reduce contact with the valve leaflets and force needed to remove the holder. The holder also has features like recessed suture guides and a ledge to hide the routing.
17. Implantable Prosthetic Heart Valve with Dual-Layer Skirt and Bioresorbable Couplers
EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES CORP, 2022
Implantable prosthetic heart valve with a skirt that allows tissue ingrowth for anchoring and sealing while the inner surface is thromboresistant to prevent leaflet attachment. The skirt has an outer layer for tissue ingrowth and an inner layer for thromboresistance. This allows the skirt to anchor and seal in the native valve annulus while preventing excessive tissue growth inside the valve flow channel. The skirt also has bioresorbable couplers connecting it to the valve leaflets. When the couplers dissolve, the skirt separates leaving just the thromboresistant inner layer. This facilitates explant by avoiding the need for surgical cutting.
18. Prosthetic Heart Valve with Commissure-Engaging Restraining Posts and Protrusions
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, 2022
Prosthetic heart valve with restraining posts that prevent unwanted rotation or movement of the leaflet commissure assembly during crimping and expansion of the valve. The posts have protrusions that engage the commissure tabs to limit axial motion. The commissure tabs wrap around the posts in opposing directions. This provides a secure and self-aligning attachment of the leaflets to the frame, reducing the risk of detachment or misalignment during deployment.
19. Collapsible Prosthetic Heart Valve with Commissure Eyelets for Load Distribution and Repositionable Deployment
St. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc., 2022
Collapsible prosthetic heart valve that can be repositioned during deployment to improve implantation and reduce leakage. The valve has a stent with commissure features that have eyelets for distributing leaflet load. The leaflets attach to these eyelets. This allows the leaflets to move relative to the commissures when the valve is collapsed and deployed, allowing better adaptation to irregular native valve shapes. The eyelets also disperse load to prevent tearing.
20. Prosthetic Heart Valve with Stent Incorporating Commissure Attachment Feature and Redundant Leaflet Fixation
St. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc., 2022
A prosthetic heart valve design that improves durability of the leaflet attachment points, particularly at the commissures, by using a unique stent configuration. The stent has a commissure attachment feature with an opening surrounded by a frame. The skirt is connected to the frame at the commissure feature. The leaflets are attached both through the opening and outside of it. This provides redundant leaflet fixation at the commissures, reducing stress concentration and improving durability compared to traditional stent designs where the skirt attaches directly to the stent at the commissures.
Innovations in commissure attachment are paving the way for more durable and efficient prosthetic heart valves. These advancements are addressing critical challenges in valve design by improving structural stability and reducing leaflet stress. As technology evolves, these solutions promise better patient outcomes, increased valve longevity, and smoother surgical implementations.
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